Bear School Astartes

Gascogne was shocked by Lann’s body, but this shock couldn’t hold him back for long.

”Someone’s waiting for me to go home, but what about you? Is no one waiting for you to return home?”

”Yes, quite a few actually.” Lann answered without any hesitation.

”Then we should support each other, so we can both return home!” Gascogne said earnestly.

”But I’m much stronger than you, in every way.”

Lann continued to answer calmly.

”One more person means more strength.” Gascogne was initially at a loss for words, then added.

But Lann turned his head and looked at him in surprise: ”Look at Henrik, he’s much more stable and knowledgeable than you, isn’t he?”

”This is Yan’an, Gascogne, how can you say something like ’one more person means more strength’?”

Gascogne genuinely didn’t expect that, after living in Yan’an for over a decade and making it his home, he would be lectured by an outsider in this way.

As if he was the outsider himself.

Lann’s tone sank as he shook his head. ”Henrik doesn’t ask me much because he knows: in Yan’an, sometimes keeping something hidden isn’t out of kindness or malice, but because it’s genuinely something that can’t be spoken of.”

”More people don’t necessarily mean support.”

”Alright.” Lann seemed to be finishing his preparations, tightening the opening of his alchemy pouch and hanging it on his back waist.

He stood up and dusted off nonexistent dust from his dragon skin skirt armor.

Gascogne remained seated next to him, with his head lowered.

Lann’s boots pressed on the ground as he stepped outside, then suddenly stopped.

”Honestly, when I first came to Yan’an, I was a bit nervous. After all, I hadn’t been traveling for long then, lacking experience and confidence.”

Lann turned around freely, hands on his hips as he spoke to the seated, head-lowered Gascogne.

”So, I’m very grateful you could help me find a place to rest and offered me a seat at the dining table.”

For Gascogne’s sense of time, what Lann referred to happened only earlier today.

But for Lann, it was the beginning of his journey across worlds.

At that time, he prepared his supplies as if for camping, hardly conveying experience.

But now, his alchemy pouch even contained a complete set of medical tools.

He had grown a lot.

”So, let’s consider it my thanks for Viola’s meal.” Lann chuckled indifferently, ”I’ll help you with this, Gascogne.”

”If it’s only for a meal...” Gascogne said quietly, ”It’s not worth it, Lann.”

”Whether it’s worth it is for me to decide. Why are you complaining here? I’m still young, can’t handle you old folks’ nagging.”

The Demon Hunter retorted without hesitation.

There was a moment of silence, then Gascogne lifted his head and looked at the Demon Hunter standing resolutely, hands on hips: ”You’re right, you’re still young... so you should cherish the time you have ahead.”

”Oh, you can forget about that.” Lann replied blankly. ”To be exact, I’m now barely twenty-two going on twenty-three.”

”At my age, as a person, I can hardly bear to ignore things I dislike. I’m quite a rebel, doesn’t matter what you think.”

After speaking, Lann shrugged: ”Let’s go.”

He turned and walked away.

-----------------

From Oton Chapel, all the way to the Hunter Workshop that Lann first found when he came to Yan’an, guided by Erin.

Withered branches and fallen leaves scattered everywhere, and tombstones were just as they had been before.

Lann walked into the now-decaying garden, heading straight for the workshop building that resembled a small chapel.

The sturdy wood appeared hardly corroded, despite the chaos and the long passage of time.

The boots formed from dragon bone plates stepped onto the wooden floor as Lann climbed a step. In front of him was the spot where the doll once sat.

Bookshelves storing hunters’ manuscripts, the table for repairing transformable weapons, the bench for adjusting rifles... these things rested quietly there, yet were rendered unusable due to abandonment.

Beside this spot lay the workshop’s side door.

Looking out from here, the workshop was situated mid-layer among Yan’an’s many structures.

Because Yan’an is a mountain city, many of the bases of those structures were even higher than this.

And this place was key to ending the Yan’an nightmare.

Or perhaps... the entrance to the crucial path.

Lann turned to look at the twisted, shriveled umbilical cord-like thing with eyes placed on the center table inside the workshop.

But he didn’t pay attention to this obviously eerie object and instead unsheathed his large dagger from the armed belt on his waist.

”Shhh~”

A sharp, clear sound as the blade was drawn.

The blade, glowing with a ghostly blue light, was revealed.

Simultaneously, Lann’s eyes began to deepen.

His amber cat-like eyes rotated, as if carefully observing every thread in the void.

Finally, after a deliberate adjustment and a deep breath, the ghostly blue bladed large dagger stabbed into a trace in the void unseen by ordinary people.

Then Lann held the dagger’s hilt with both hands, dragging the blade like he was meticulously cutting the corpse of a prey.

And the space before him indeed seemed like it had been sliced open by him.

The ’wound in space’ expanded spontaneously, Lann stepped forward.

The same sound of boots hitting the wooden floor.

The chapel-like workshop, at first glance, seemed unchanged from before, as if Lann’s [Space Cutting] had failed.

He hadn’t crossed to any other place from the ’wound in space,’ but instead simply took one step in place.

However... it was only ’at first glance’ after all.

”Whew~”

A gentle breeze swept through the trees, bringing the sound of rustling leaves, accompanied by a quiet floral fragrance that had not been present before.

Looking out from the workshop’s side door, the garden that was once barren with only fallen leaves was now blooming with white flowers, swaying in the breeze.

As Lann looked down, the wooden floor and surrounding tables, bookshelves were neatly arranged and functional.

This was not an abandoned Hunter Workshop.

This was a well-maintained, active Hunter Workshop.

...Everything was just like the scene Lann saw when he first arrived at Yan’an and fell asleep.

Lann moved forward without turning back.

The surroundings of this Hunter Workshop were no longer just the bases of other Yan’an buildings.

It now seemed to be on a mountaintop, where looking far off, only the contours of mist-covered mountains could be seen.

Along with giant stone pillars, even taller than the mountains, piercing the chaotic and blurred sky.

”Hello, kind Hunter.”

A soft, gentle female voice came from behind Lann.

Turning around, a doll identical to the one Lann found, and identical to Maria, stood alive below the steps of the workshop’s main entrance.

Her hands were folded over her belly, like a long-awaiting attendant.

But she lacked emotion and warmth.

She was merely performing her designated role.

She slightly bowed to Lann.

”Gremman,” the doll modeled after Maria, remained unperturbed as she spoke the name. ”He is waiting under the big tree.”

The Demon Hunter gathered all his silver hair at the back, giving his previously casual hair a tidy and brisk look.

”And what about you?”

Lann asked.

”I...” The doll initially straightened up, then slowly bowed again, ”I’m just a doll.”

”Please go and see him, kind Hunter.”

The Demon Hunter nodded silently, placed his hand on the hilt of his sword at his waist, and walked toward the other end of the small garden.

Through an iron gate, outside the small garden was a larger sea of flowers.

The white flowers emitting a quiet fragrance filled the area, rising and falling with the terrain.

Under a large tree growing on a small hill, the First Hunter Gremman sat quietly in a wheelchair, waiting.

The sea of flowers swayed in the unseen breeze.

A few strands of Lann’s hair also danced in the breeze.

The Demon Hunter looked up at the large moon above, everything appeared serene and beautiful.

”You suit staying here, young Hunter.”

Gremman, like an elder on the verge of passing, sat with his head bowed in the wheelchair, allowing the shadow of the high-top hat’s brim to obscure his face.

His voice was gentle, as if nearing death.

”Then this place will become even more beautiful.”

”I’ll take that as a compliment,” Lann walked calmly toward the hill, stepping over those white flowers, ”But let’s leave it at that.”

”So many gallows make this sea of flowers look sinister.”

Indeed, scattered among the sea of flowers stood many T-shaped gallows, but over time, vines and grass roots had climbed onto them, growing attached.

”Haha,” Gremman dismissed it lightly, only laughing twice as if coughing.

The joke ended there.

”Foreign Hunter, I will show you mercy one last time.”

Gremman’s tone did not change, but a mysterious chill, like hard ice rising to the surface, appeared silently.

”You should know this is a nightmare to others, but to you... it is unequivocal reality.”

”Just a drop of blood. A drop of Yanyan’s Blood grants you the right to partake in this nightmare.”

”Everything you desire and crave can be obtained truthfully in this Dream Realm.”

”So long as you are willing to put a drop of blood into your body.”

Lann merely tilted his head, smiled at the old man in the wheelchair, without saying anything.

Yet, the consistently bowing old man seemed to comprehend the answer.

He shook his head regretfully.

”Oh, dear, what exactly are you thinking?”

Gremman softly sighed.

”Hunting? Blood? Or the nightmare? What He promised you is far beyond this.”

”But... it no longer matters.”

”Do you think it was the old William who guided you here? What can he possibly perceive?”

”As long as you’re here, everything else is negotiable.”

For the first time, the origin of the Yan Nan Hunter, standing before Lann, slowly rose from the old wheelchair.

Beneath the brim of the high-top hat, the old man’s lips formed a hint of a smile.

”As a helper Hunter, there is always a way to solve the problem.”

The folding blade, once concealed by the oversized, worn-out clothing and body as he huddled in the wheelchair, now fully exposed with its cold gleam.

”Tonight...”

”Gremman, join the hunt.”